Wärtsilä Corporation signed a contract with Geradora de Energia do Amazonas S/A, which is part of the Servtec group, to build a power plant in the city of Manaus, in northern Brazil. Located in Ponta Negra, the 83 MW plant will be built under an EPC (equipment, procurement and construction) contract comprising five Wärtsilä 18V46 generating sets. Construction of the plant began in September 2005 and the plant is scheduled to start up in July 2006. A contract to operate and maintain the facility is also under negotiation.

According to Mr Lauro Fiúza Junior, President and CEO of Servtec, the contract signed with Wärtsilä has ideal synergies for this kind of project. “We have financial advantages and we mitigate project risks since Wärtsilä is assuming the responsibility to deliver the plant ready to operate instead of having two companies working on the same project (one for equipment supply and the other to build it)” he says.

Servtec was one of the winners of the tender carried out in 2004 by Manaus Energia, subsidiary of Eletronorte, to supply electricity to Manaus. The Power Purchase Agreement term is for 20 years and involves a total project investment of around US$ 100 million, of which the Wärtsilä contract is around US$ 65 million. The additional capacity intends to fill the shortfall in energy supply in the region.

“The engines will initially run on heavy fuel oil (cheapest fuel available) and will be converted to operate on natural gas as soon as the gas pipeline from Uruacu is in operation. Engines with multi-fuel capabilities are ideal for plants located in remote cities such as Manaus. The project also makes the gas pipeline feasible since it assures the need of gas in the buyers’ end”, says Mr Robson Campos, Regional Director of Wärtsilä.

Wärtsilä has designed, projected and installed 13 power plants in Brazil that together generate more than 500 MW. The company is responsible for the operation and maintenance of four of these units with a total output of 200 MW. Nine out of these 13 power plants operate with heavy fuel oil and four with natural gas. The biggest of these plants is the 157 MW Rio Negro power plant, in Manaus, Amazonas, that operates 24 hours a day.

Notes to the editor:Wärtsilä is a leading provider of power plants, operation and lifetime care services in decentralized power generation.

The company provides power plants for baseload, intermediate, peaking, standby and combined heat and power applications as well as solutions for oil pumping. The product range comprises gas- and oil-fired power plants with outputs from 1 MW to 300 MW, biopower plants with outputs from 1 to 5 MWe and biothermal plants for 3–17 MWth

Wärtsilä is The Ship Power Supplier for builders, owners and operators of vessels and offshore installations. Our own global service network takes complete care of customers’ ship machinery at every lifecycle stage.

About Wärtsilä

Wärtsilä is a global leader in advanced technologies and complete lifecycle solutions for the marine and energy markets. By emphasising sustainable innovation and total efficiency, Wärtsilä maximises the environmental and economic performance of the vessels and power plants of its customers.